'Burke is back!' Ellen Pompeo cosies up to Isaiah Washington as he returns to Grey's Anatomy set

She famously talked Shonda Rhimes out of casting him as her love interest on Grey's Anatomy.

But there were no hard feelings between Ellen Pompeo and Isaiah Washington as they reunited on the set of the medical drama.

Washington – who was axed seven years ago following his use of homophobic slurs towards a co-star – has been brought back to the show for a special one-off appearance as Dr Preston Burke as his former on-screen fiancee Dr Christina Yang (Sandra Oh) departs the show.

'Burke is back!' Ellen Pompeo shared this picture of herself and Isaiah Washington as he returned to Grey's Anatomy

And he and Ellen appeared to have decided to put the past behind them as they cosied up for a picture, which she promptly posted to Instagram.

Ellen wrote: 'BURKE IS BACK #itsallgoodinthehood #burkeisback.'

The snap shows the duo with their arms around each other, smiling happily for the camera.

Both are casually dressed and it is not clear if they are in character or not as the picture was taken in a parking lot.

Ellen wears a denim shirt in the Instagram photo while Isaiah is clad in a hat and jacket.

He also shared a picture on his Twitter account of him in medical scrubs with the caption: '#Day2 Done. #BurkeIsBack'.

Ellen previously revealed showrunner Rhimes wanted to cast Washington as her love interest but she talked her out of it.

Scrubs up well: Washington shared this picture of him back in his medical scrubs as Dr Preston Burke

Guess who's back! Isaiah was clearly thrilled to be back on set and took to his Twitter to share the good news

She told the New York Post: 'They wanted Isaiah Washington to be my boyfriend. Shonda really wanted to put a black man in the mix. I didn't think they were really going to put an interracial couple on the show and I didn't want him. It was too close to home. ... I said I wanted that [Patrick] Dempsey kid.

'I think that once Isaiah did not get the role it backfired.'

In real life Ellen is married to music producer Chris Ivery, who is black.

Speaking about Burke, who was last seen during the finale of season three as he stood Christina up at the altar, showrunner Rhimes previously said in a statement: 'It's important to me that Cristina's journey unfolds exactly as it should. Burke is vital to that journey - he gives her story that full-circle moment we need to properly say goodbye to our beloved Cristina Yang.'

Comeback kid: Washington is making a sensational return to Grey's Anatomy as Dr Preston Burke, seven years after he was fired, as Sandra Oh's character and his one-time love interest, Dr Christina Yang, prepares to leave

Sandra will leave the show at the end of the 10th season in May.

Washington's character was one of the central players on the programme for the first three seasons.

However, on set altercations with then co-star T.R. Knight led to him using anti-gay slurs against his fellow actor and he was fired.

Despite this, GLAAD, the non-governmental media monitoring organisation which promotes the image of LGBT people in the media, has praised his return.

It said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter: 'His PSA and his statements promoting marriage equality in recent years have sent a strong message of support for LGBT people.

'We look forward to seeing him return to one of our favorite shows, as well as in Patrik-Ian Polk's moving film Blackbird about a young man coming out in a small Southern town.'

Full circle: Isaiah's character is being brought back to bring the arc of Sandra's character 'full circle' as she prepares to leave

Isaiah blamed Knight for the incident and insisted the wrong man was let go.

He told the Houston Chronicle in 2007,one month after he was fired, 'I have to clear my name. I'll start from the beginning. I'm telling everything. So here's the truth."

While Knight told chat show host Ellen DeGeneres that Isaiah used the slur against him and that 'everyone (on the set) heard', Isaiah insisted he used it during an argument with co-star Patrick Dempsey.

Sacked: Isaiah was let go after using a homophobic slur towards T.R. Knight [L] while fighting with Patrick Dempsey [R] on set

'That's a lie," Washington said. 'I used the word during a disagreement with Patrick. I apologised for that. We shook hands and went back to work.'

'I was not fired for making homophobic slurs, ' he added: 'I did everything I said I would do. ... I wanted everyone to know I was remorseful. '

Rhimes previously called the period after he was fired a 'really difficult time’.

She told The Hollywood Reporter: 'It was hard for me to write the show. Seasons four and five were difficult because I was in a dark place after the press frenzy that descended on us because of the [Washington and Knight situation and critical backlash to the stories.

Devastated: Sandra's character was left devastated after Dr Burke failed to show up for their wedding

'In the beginning, it felt like such a magical place, and to discover that everyone isn't who you thought they were is very unfortunate.

'Some awesome things did come out of it though. I found the Callie [Sara Ramirez] and Erica [Brooke Smith] relationship and Owen [Kevin McKidd, who played Christina's former husband] in there.

'There were things that were amazing because they pull you through. A lot of us joke that we have PTSD from that period of time - and we do.'

New love: Christina went on to marry and divorce Dr Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) after her relationship with Burke broke down